Friday, August 20, 2010

Tips to Dry your Swimsuit

A reader asked me for tips on drying a swimsuit and I figured the question would certainly make for a good post, since if you don't do it right, or at all, you'll lessen the life of your swmsuit many times over.

Well, there are probably a million ways to dry one's swimsuit, but I have my preferences, some of which I've learned the hard way.  Here is my swimsuit drying Do's and Don'ts list and a few tips to go with them:

Do Not:
  • Leave your swimsuit in your bag if it is damp - the bacteria that survives the chlorine will eat away at the elastic and will thrive in the warm dark place that is your bag (do this just once and you'll see what I'm talking about)
  • Let your swimsuit dry in direct sun light - this will fade the pattern/colors faster than you might imagine
  • Routinely dry your swimsuit while you are wearing it - this will stretch the fabric and you won't even notice it until one day when you get out of the water and it falls off your a**.
  • Hang your suit from a clothes line or hook as this too will stretch the fabric (duh).
  • Wring (ring?) your swimsuit out - this will stretch the fabric

Do:
  • Rinse the suit in cold clean water to get out the chlorine and other pool chemicals (I just do it in the shower after my workout)
  • Dry the suit on a flat surface - I use the shower floor at home works great, or on a dry towel which you one can do just about anywhere (e.g., in the back of your car, etc.).  Sometimes your suit won't be dry in 24 hours but will almost always be dry in 48 hours, so I keep a second suit in my bag for the next day's swim.  Then I just swap out suit from the drying place when I'm done.
  • To speed things up try using a spinner.  They work like a salad spinner and do a great job whicking the water away from the swimsuit.  Spin the entire cycle, i.e. don't stop until you hear the unit click.

If you must get the water out of your suit manually - maybe because you don't have a spinner, or a plastic bag or towel to wrap the suit up in when you leave the pool - I suggest scrunching it into a ball and squeeze the water out (once again, do not wring it out).

These are just a few of the things I do and/or recommend.  Other suggestions always welcome.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your advices. Unfortunately, there's no spinner at my gym and I always have to leave my swimming suit in a plastic bag since I've to get to work. I try to get as much water out by 'drying' with a bath towel. That's one of the negatives about swimming - it's a lot of work.

    Thanks for reminding me abou the spinner and be patient to wait for the 'click'. Is it sanitary to use the spinner though? Thanks again.

    3X thanks back to you again! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. An easy way to dry it:
    Wrap the swimsuit in a big towel and sit on it while you do your face care and make up, then dry it flat on your car´s trunk wile you´re at work.

    ReplyDelete

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